1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates, in general, to novel quinoline polymers, chelates thereof, and their preparation and use. In one aspect this invention is directed to quinoline polymers which are produced by reacting 2-aminomethyl-8-hydroxyquinolines and diisocyanates and reacting the resultant polymeric product with a metal salt. In another aspect, this invention is directed to methods of preparing quinoline polymers and their chelates with transition metal ions, and their use in application areas which exploit the fluorescence or radioactivity of such chelates. The chelates of this invention are particularly useful in in vivo therapeutic applications utilizing radioactivity, or fluorescent labeling utilizing incident light. In a further aspect, the invention is directed to chelates of quinoline polymers with radioactive metal ions and their use in the topical treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and cancer.
2) Background of the Related Art
It is known that chelating agents such as ethylendiaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), 1,3-diketones, thiosemicarbazides, and aminothiols, among others, form chelates with metal ions. However, few of the known chelates exhibit fluorescence and few have been shown to form water insoluble chelates, making the latter suitable for topical treatments utilizing radioactivity.
Accordingly, one or more of the following objects will be achieved by the practice of the present invention. It is an object of this invention to provide quinoline polymers produced from 2-aminomethyl -8-hydroxyquinolines and diisocyanates which are capable of forming chelates with transition metal ions. Another object of this invention is to provide novel polymer chelates which will exhibit distinct fluorescence excitation and emission spectra corresponding to that of the specific metal ion which is chelated and wherein the chelates themselves are stable. It is a further object of the present invention to provide quinoline polymers which can be used for the preparation of chelates of radioactive metal ions. A still further object of this invention, is to provide stable polymeric chelates of radionuclides which are water insoluble, and are useful for the topical treatment of rheumatoidal arthritis and cancer. These and other objects will readily become apparent to those skilled in the art in the light of the teachings contained herein.